Cap-feeding device



Makh 10, 1931. c. T. SMALL CAP FEEDING DEVICE Filed Aug. 25. 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet l March 1931- ,cf T. SMALL ,7

I cAP FEEDING DEVICE Filed Aug. 25. 1928 s Sheets-Sheet 2 '7 J im Inventor C. '1. Small March 10, 1931. c. T. SMALL CAP FEEDING DEVICE 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Aug. 25, 1928 Fig. '7.

Inventor C. T. Small By Atty Patented Mar. 10, 1 931 TES PATENT GFFICE CHESLEY T. SMALL, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI CAP-FEEDING DEVICE Application filed August 25, 192a Serial No. 201,977.

. My invention relates to a device for feeding caps (tops or bottoms) to various types of can making or can sealing machinery. The object of my invention is to produce a device 5 which will feed the 'caps rapidly andaccurately without danger of injury thereto.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate a form of my invention particularly adapted for feeding bottoms to double-seam- 10 ers, Figure 1 is'a side elevation; Figure 2 is an enlarged plan view of the cap separating plate; Figure 3 is a section taken on the line 3-.3'of Figure 1; Figure4 is a top plan view, the supporting bracket and'strut bar being 15 omitted; Figure 5 is a section taken on the line 55 of Figure 4; Figure 6 is a sectiontaken on the line 6.6 of Figure 4; Figure 7 is a section taken on the line 7-7 of Figure 4; and Figure 8 is an enlarged section of a part of 20 the device similar to Figure 5 but taken from the opposite side and showing the feed slide 1 at the inner end of its movement. I

The body of the device consists of a casting 1 having formed in its upper face a way 2 25 equal to the diameter of the cap in width and preferably slightly greater in depth than the thickness of the cap. Located centrally of the way 2 is a narrower and deeper way 3 in which slides the movable feed bar 4. Situ- 3 ated directly abovethe'bar 4 is a fixed feed bar which is secured by studs 6 to yokes 7. Theyokes 7 are fastened to the casting 1 by bolts 8 andwing nuts 9, the yokes being preferably provided with slots 10 to allow of 35 1 quick removal. Y

The device is supported from the frame 11 V (Figure 1) of the double-seamer by means of a bracket 12, one end of which enters a sleeve 13 on said frame and is held by a set screw 14.

40 On the other end of the bracket is a sleeve 15 through which passes the threaded stem 16 of a yoke 17 This stem, however, does not have threaded engagement with the sleeve 7 but is adjusted vertically by threaded collars 45 18 and 19, respectively, engaging" the stem above and below the sleeve. A locking collar 20 secures the parts after adjustment. Carried by the yoke 17 are arms 21 secured to wings 22 on thecastin'g 1 by bolts 23. These 50 bolts 23 pass through the slots 24 in the arms to provide adjustment of the device toward and away from the seamer. One side of the yoke is provided with a downward extension 25 terminating in a bearing 26 for the driving shaft 27. In order to provide additional supportfor the inner end of the device, I secure to the bracket 12 by means of a bolt 28 a yoke 29. Secured to this yoke by bolts 30 passing through slots 31 is a cross bar 32 on which the inner end of the casting rests, as best shown in Figures 5 and 6. A strut bar 33 extends between the frame 11 and the yoke 17. This bar serves to give added rigidity to the device and also carriesa pivoted arm 34 carrying an idler 35 for tightening the sprocket chain (not shown) which drives the shaft 27.

At the outerend of the casting the way 2 provided with shallow extensions 36 coved by plates 37 thus forming guide ways to receive the edges of the cap separating plates 38 (shown in detail in Figure 2). formed in the inner end of this plate is a ress of somewhat less diameter than the caps and having its edges beveled, as shown at 39.

t the center of the recess is a slot 40 to accommodatethe lower end of one of the hold er rods hereinafter to be described. Secured to to the lower face of the plate 38 is a plate a radius equal that of the periphery of the cap. This latr plate also carries on its lower face a hook plate 43 engaging with the feed bar 4.

and 41 by bolts 43 Secured to the slide composed of plates 38 is a bracket 44 pivoted to one end of a, pitman bar 45. This bar is formed of two parts fastened together by bolts 46 passing through slots 47 so that it ay be adjusted in length. Its inner end is connected to a disk 48 on the driving shaft 27 In order to vary the length of the stroke this connection is made through a stud 49, the

v head of which slides in a T-slot 50 in the disk.

The disk is actuated wheel 51 on the driven by a sprocket chain (not shown) leadby means of a sprocket outer end of the shaft 27 lIlllg from any suitable rotary part of the may c .7

inc.

iangular form to provide a holder in which the caps 54 are stacked. The rod 53 forming i the apex of the triangle extends down (as shown in Figure 8) substantially flush with the upper face of plate ll to prevent the feed ing of more than one cap at a time. Carried on the feed bar 4:, which moves with the feed slide, are spring dogs 55 whichengage the caps anduforcethem along the way 2, their retrograde movement being prevented by spring dogs 56 on the fixed feed bar 5. The operation of my feed-er is briefly as follows The caps 54: are stacked between the rods 53, as shown in Figure 8, theirform beposition-indicated at 54 in this figureand wilh be engaged by theifirst retaining dogr56 which I ciaim as-new anddesire to secure by Letters ing such that they are slightly nested in this position. The initial position of'the slide is that shown in Figure. 5. '-As the slide is 7 moved inwardly by the pitman bar the recess'edinner end of the vplate 38 enters-the spacebetweenthe rims of the lowest and next to the lowest caps, the beveled edge '39 raisinga'll the caps except the lowest one resting on thebottom of'the'way 2. lhis latter named cap is now'free to move along the way 2 whenengaged by' the recess 42 in the end of the plateeli YVhen the slide has reached the end ofz-it's stroke, as shown in Figure 8, the lower cap '54' will have been moved'to the will prevent its retrograde movement on the return stroke of theguide. 011 the next stroke of the slide the cap will be advanced by'the first feed dog 55 to the position indi cated at 54 where it will be engaged by the second retaining dog 56. One or more ad I ditional feed steps may be used as required, thls' dependi'ng upon the length of the feed '7 stroke and the distance of the stack from the receiving table of. the machine to which the caps are fed. :lt \vill-be'seen that by my device eachf'cap' is fed independently of the others in astrai ht .line' from a position. at

rest on the floor of the'feed wayto the point of. dellve'ry. Owingto this fact it is possible to feed the. caps as rapidly as maybe desired without danger of injuring them.

"nections a substantially semicircular beveled edge and a substant ally semicircular concentrlc shoulder ofgreater diameter below said'edge.

3. In a device of the class described,fthe

combination with a bracket, of means for securing said bracketto a can forming machine, of a vertically-adjustable yoke carried by said bracket, a table extendingbetween the arms of said yoke, meansfor adjusting'said table longitudinally, capfeeding means including-a: reciprocating teed plate carried by said table, a, driving shaft car'ried by said yoke below said table and drivingvconnections between said shaft and feed plate, said conthe relative movement of the table and yoke. l; In a deviceof theclass described, the combination with a" bracket, of means for securing said .br acket to a can formingmachine, of a vertically adjustable yoke carried by said bracket,,a;table extending between thearms otsaid yoke, meansfor adjusting said table longitudinally, a second yoke carried'by said bracket forward'of said first named yoke, vertically adjustable cross bar carried'by said second named yoke and pass- 'Having'fu-lly describe d invention, what i v Patent oi the United States is:

' said holder,

11in afdevice oi the-class described,the

combination witha' holder' ad'apted'to holdv caps in a stack, of a guide wayleading from andfa reciprocating slide comi c prising-upper and lower plat'es,'the upper plate having an approximately semi-circular concave beveled end for separating the'lower cap fromthe remainder ofthe stack and the lower plate engaging said: cap and feeding I it along said guide? way;

5v 2. Ina device I of the class described, the

combinationwith' a holder adapted to hold caps in a stack, of a guide way leadingfrom said-holder;

and a slide reciprocating under and adapted to move 1thercovers singly iiitoj'sa-id guide way, said slide having being adjustable to compensate for- 

